The least you should know about the 2011 Cougars. Part of Pac-12 Week.
? First, something nice. After two years of revolving doors and uninterrupted misery in the passing game (and everywhere else; see below), the Cougars found a pair of keepers last year in sophomore quarterback Jeff Tuel and true freshman receiver Marquess Wilson, who combined to actually lift a major statistical category out of last place in the Pac-10. Far from it, in fact: While Tuel was slowly emerging as a viable Division I starter, Wilson immediately established himself as the most dangerous deep threat on the West Coast with a conference-best 18.3 yards per catch on 55 grabs, good for a slew of Freshman All-America nods.
On paper, Tule and Wilson rank alongside Matt Barkley and Robert Woods at USC and Nick Foles and Juron Criner at Arizona as the most productive pass-catch duo in the conference, and give Wazzu a glimmer of hope of keeping pace in a few inevitable shootouts.
? Now, the reality. Even with the competence of the passing game, the offense was the lowest-scoring attack in the Pac-10. And even that doesn't look so bad compared to the latest debacle on defense, which came in dead last in the conference ?�and among the worst teams nationally? by almost every conceivable measure: Total defense (118th), scoring defense (110th), rushing defense (115th), pass defense (104th), pass efficiency defense (110th), you name it. The really depressing part, though, is that the Cougars also finished in the conference cellar in every single one of those categories in 2009, and last or next to last in every one in 2008, when there was competition at the bottom from winless Washington.
In the meantime, the Huskies have achieved a reasonable facsimile of a turnaround since canning coach Tyrone Willingham. Washington State, on the other hand, was outscored by more than two touchdowns per game in 2010 for the third year and a row and fell to 2-25 in conference play under coach Paul Wulff ?�still less than a decade removed from three consecutive top-10 finishes from 2001-03.
? Staying alive. When not demonstrating marked improvement, Tuel was brutalized to an almost shocking degree. In large part, that was because he had no way to keep defenses honest: Thanks to a nonexistent running game and big deficits that limited the game plan to "Desperate Barrage" mode on a weekly basis, Tuel was a sitting duck on the receiving end of 47 sacks, more than any quarterback in America. By the time conference play rolled around, it was like target practice. Arizona sacked him seven times, Cal six; UCLA and Washington got to him five times apiece, Oregon and Oregon State four times apiece and USC three times. The only teams that didn't drop Tuel at least three times were Stanford (two) and Arizona State (two) ?�and in the Sun Devils' case, that was only because Tuel was pulled in the fourth quarter for Marshall Lobbestael, who was subsequently sacked three times himself.
Again, though, that was nothing new. The Cougars also allowed an ungodly number of sacks in 2008 and 2009, forcing them to cycle through three different starting quarterbacks in both seasons. Somehow, Tuel made it out of 2010 upright and alive without missing any significant period of time. But unless his relatively veteran offensive line ?�four of the five starters are seniors with regular starting experience ?�suddenly holds up much better than it has at any point over the last three years, it's hard to see how that can possibly be the case again in 2011.
? Fashion break! Oklahoma State's arrival to the gray pride parade last month earned more attention, but after what Oregon's done with it, you just knew someone on the West Coast was going to get there first:
That look also introduces black pants to the crimson/white rotation, which just seems appropriate, for some reason.
? So you're telling us there's a chance. As far as we know, Wulff hasn't been issued any specifics benchmarks for earning a fifth year, but if his bosses are thinking bowl games, he may as well put his house on the market now. Even grading on a curve, there's no way to spin the last three years as anything but an underachieving mess.
Still, at least there were hints of competitiveness in 2010 that hadn't existed before, namely in a 31-14 stunner at Oregon State in November, but also in serious upset bids that pushed UCLA, Cal and Washington well into the fourth quarter. If the bar is low enough, it's possible Wulff can declare victory with as little as two conference wins ? especially if one of them comes against Washington in the season finale ? which would match the Cougars' total over his first three seasons. If they somehow manage to win three conference games, he'll be back in 2012 with a senior quarterback and the end of the bowl drought on the horizon. But that's still not going to be much solace for the coaches of the teams that they beat.
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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.
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